Going back some years, after the debut split with mighty Indonesian black metal horde Santet, DROSOPHILA, the blackened doom/gothic metal worshippers from Yogyakarta, have released this debut 5-track EP in 2007.
The opening intro nicely prepares the listener to what’s gonna follow. The keyboard in the background are accompanied by the native folk instruments and together they give support to the male voice narrator, but I am not able to tell you the content, sorry. Yes, it’s in bahasa Indonesia.
The intro slides into the first song, “Frozen Inside”, and I am instantly transferred back in the late 1990s era of European melodic doom/death metal – done Indonesian way, of course. That means – in case you haven’t guessed, a female vocal present!
The song again continues without a break to another track, this time it’s “Restless”. From the opening one can say it’s a step forward from the opener and after listening to the whole EP, I think it’s my favourite from the three songs presented here (I won’t take into consideration the intro and outro). The violin-like speed-up intermezzo is a nice part here, as it breaks up the usual pacing of the song. Yep, stuff like this I like.
The last song before outro is “The Last Gate”, again, with the nice Indonesian flute and violin intervined into the opening melody. Slow, melancholic, with only a female vocal, and the doubled, choir-like vocal arrangement is good idea here. Although – as I’ve already said – “Restless” is a top song for me here, I’d say the female vocals are the best here, in “The Last Gate”.
And with “Outro”, similar to “Intro”, the EP is over. A little over 20 minutes will run fast, despite the slow(ish) doom music.
Now, I have to admit I have quite a hard time criticising bands and artists trying their utmost to bring us, the listeners and reviewers, the music to devour and enjoy. So don’t take this as a critique – for the record, I will only state this – yes, the female singer is not the best one you have heard. Yet it’s far from the worst one. Of course, there is a room to development, but before anyone starts to point fingers – I am quite sure it’s not that easy to find a female metal singer for gothic/doom band in Indonesia. Or maybe I am wrong.
Here, I said it. But this shouldn’t turn you away from this EP.
And before we’re finished – I do plan to the rest of Drosophila’s discography (although, at the moment, I will be limited to what’s available online), so we will see the band developed over the years. We’re at the 2007, mind you…
(Btw, the whole EP is on the band’s Youtube channel, so you can check it out for yourself, here’s “Restless”):
